To be honest, I don’t really get this whole Fan Cave thing that Major League Baseball has going on — this in particular is certainly an odd promotion — but this also provides a pretty good explanation of the steps MLB has taken to assure that they properly mark and identify milestone baseballs. Here’s the announcement from MLB.

With Derek Jeter returning to the Yankee lineup and resuming his quest for 3,000 career hits, the MLB Fan Cave on Tuesday will be host to a dozen unique pieces of living history, one of which could wind up being the actual ball Jeter hits for number 3,000.

Twelve of the baseballs among those to be put into play once Jeter is at 2,999 career hits will be on display at the MLB Fan Cave on Tuesday afternoon for fans and members of the media.

Major League Baseball, through its Authentication Program, will deploy specially marked game-balls in order to accurately track the actual ball hit. These balls are regular game Rawlings balls selected at random that have a visible mark and a covert mark added to them. In conjunction with the home plate umpire these balls are sequenced into the game when the player attempting the milestone is at-bat. Once the milestone takes place the Authenticator will verify both the overt and covert marks and only then, if 100% assured of the balls’ authenticity, will they place a numbered tamper-proof hologram on the item.

WHAT: Twelve pre-marked MLB baseballs – one of which could be Derek Jeter’s 3,000th career hit

The MLB Fan Cave is a 15,000 square-foot location at 4th Street & Broadway (the site of the old Tower Records) in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village. Major League Baseball has transformed this venue into an exciting new hub mixing baseball with music, popular culture, media, interactive technology, and art.